Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Redefining geekhood, 27 May 2006
I discovered Owen through the news he'd taken to covering Joanna Newsom's song Peach Plum Pear in his live act and a B-side. What a great thing curiosity is. The first album, Has A Good Home, was a Wonderland, and stood magical and unmatched by any other album in my collection until He Poos Clouds came along. Based on (apparently but very loosely) the 8 schools of magic from Dungeons and Dragons, this album is the musical equivalent of when the teen-movie geek takes off her glasses and lets down her hair and is suddenly beautiful.
If you've seen him live, you'll know he can do almost anything with a violin and a loop pedal, and this holds true throughout the album. There are dozens of timbres and textures alive, kicking and screaming together like the sounds of a brand new habitat, and the new-ish inclusion of piano and thumping drums lends the music a new vibrancy.
If I was absolutely forced to pick highlights, I would only take that to mean those songs which took me over completely: This Lamb Sells Condos, a jaunty character sketch of a certain Brad J. Lamb, for whom Pallett creates a romantically-crippling case of impotence; I'm Afraid of Japan, which simply ripped my heart out with harmony; Song Song Song, a colourful and upbeat track which cures all ills; Many Lives -> 49MP, which exemplifies Final Fantasy's talent for matching antique violin stylings with anguished yelling; the quirky Do You Love, one of the most diverse songs on the album; and the unreal beauty of title track, He Poos Clouds.
If you're sick of the guitars/bass/drums four-piece structure, you couldn't take a more drastic (and healthy) leap than to try out this album.
- M.T.
|
|
|
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
He plays pop, 21 Oct 2006
No, this is not THAT Final Fantasy. This is Owen Pallett, who has backed up the Hidden Cameras and Arcade Fire, and whose classical training comes in handy for some of the weirdest pop out there. "He Poos Clouds" is a bizarre mixup of atheism, death, experimental violin and... Dungeons and Dragons.
It opens with a sharp classical violin solo, which makes you sit up straight. "She drives a little white car to the seminar on Modern Romance/Possible possible ideas for a date include... a shooting range/And her chest is full to bursting with thoughts of an evening..." murmurs Pallett, telling a story of two people who long for love, but have hearts "that will never melt."
He trips through a tense, heart-pouncing ode to fantasy ("Gotta rescue Michael from the White Witch!/Gotta find and kill my shadow self!") and into all varieties of oddball violin'n'piano pop: eerie sea ballads, trippy one-minute songs, swirling experimental pop, and everything that lies in between those styles.
The peak of the album is "This Lamb Sells Condos," an exquisite piano-led ballad with obscure D&D references melting into the real life. Halfway through the song, the strings quietly smother the piano in a quavery blanket, and a chorus of angelic voices sing hopeless lyrics. It's absolutely stunning.
Classical and experimental existentialist geek rock -- what exactly can you call this style? Well, whatever it is, it sounds quite different from the rawer, more down-to-earth sound of Final Fantasy's first album, with a more ethereal sound and more cultivated lyrics.
The core of this album is Pallett's violin skills, which have a prominent place in every song. The violin sings, shivers, slashes and just dances through the songs; at times it sounds like a soundtrack, moving along in peculiar jumps and leaps. The ethereal edge is enhanced by some well-placed horns and timpani, and that angelic choir.
The music is only enhanced more by his slightly rambling, literate lyrics, sung in a smooth, meditative voice, with the occasional anguished wail when the song demands it. Not only does he write like a modern Wallace Stevens, but Pallett peppers his music with references to Yukio Mishima, designer clothes, Anne McCaffrey, Flann O'Brien, and (of course) D&D. ("And then as an apprentice, he took a Drowish mistress/Who bestowed upon his youthfulness a sense of Champagne Chic...")
Sounding like a depressed fanboy, with a violin in hand, Final Fantasy's second album is an exquisite, downbeat pleasure of good music. Absolutely fascinating.
|
|
|
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Avant-pop that is coincidentally successful and awesome, 30 Aug 2006
Owen Pallett's backstory reads like one of the hottest spreadsheets in town. Canadian "rock" music is currently reaching a worldwide audience, not just thanks to Hot Hot Heat but also Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade and The New Pornogaphers. Pallett's collaboration with The Hidden Cameras and The Arcade Fire is enviable. He has played with the some of the most progressive bands currently around. One musn't forget his history with Bowie-approved Les Mouches and his current project known as Picastro.
As a violinist, he manages to create a contemporary sound without destroying the medium quite like Vanessa Mae. His use of a loop machine to create an orchestra as a soloist is an ambitious proposition. Owen Pallett is Final Fantasy. The RPG game is fantastic, the confusion between band and game is cunning in its knowing self-reflexive sentiment. Stop insulting the name, Owen knows what he's doing, thus distancing himself from fans of The Kooks and yes, even the Guillemots.
What's so special about his third record/second album that is 'He Poos Clouds'? While 'Has A Good Home' was a gorgeous pop record every track as memorable as the last, 'He Poos Clouds' is an experimental achievement that panders to the affections of Philip Glass, Steve Reich and other classical composers currently being noticed thanks to an emerging niche target audience. 'Song Song Song' uses a discordant build-up that kicks into a lush melody which really struck an emotional chord with me. 'If I Were A Carp' is an absurd track that grows on you after repeat listens.
I can guarantee that my ticket to see him for the first time at the Scala in October is money well-spent. Patrick Wolf is Britain's answer to Owen Pallett. Both men are tredding similar territory and I adore them both. Possibly the most exciting time in British and Canadian music, and as always, the spirit of music is well out of the mainstream and well in the independent. When these artists kick up the charts, I hope that the industry doesn't destroy what is so special about these talents.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Final Fantasy
~ Final Fantasy
~ Bon Iver
~ Fleet Foxes
~ Animal Collective
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home